Disclaimer:As much as we love the boys, we're still kind of afraid of Leon's gunblade and Cloud's bustersword. They still belong to Square Enix boys. And the song, it's Linkin Park's; Figure.09.
Beta: Azrax (Thank you. Once again.)
A/N (Anae): No way, this one. *groan* Cloud didn't keep his mouth shut, of which I apologize. You'll notice the line of which I'm talking about as you'll see it. *hides under the covers*
Anyway. Sometimes you shouldn't push too hard. You'll never know what you'll find. Hope you'll enjoy!
A/N (QttQ): This. . . This chapter. Oh dear Lord. Leon, honey, you shouldn't go poking at sleeping monsters like that. They tend to wake up and then all hell breaks loose. Like here. You ought to be careful about what you wish for.
Let's all give tons of praise to Anae for managing to get into Cloud's head via Leon's eyes! Now that's a unique skill, I tell you.
I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter. c : Stay tuned for more!

Chapter VI: Memories of you

Everything comes down to memories of
You
I've kept it in but now I'm letting you
Know
I've let you go
Get away from me

The metallic sound of blades clashing echoed throughout the yard. The Coliseum had been crowded enough to make Leon and Cloud seek a place more peaceful for their training – the ruins of an old, abandoned building, that provided them with enough shelter from curious eyes but gave them room to move. Their usual sparring session was in action, both males breathing heavily, their clothes dirty and their eyes wild.

Leon had come to notice that Cloud was no ordinary man. He'd never met anyone with so much strength before. And the blond wasn't just strong – he was a pure powerhouse, wielding that enormous sword of his, swinging it without one single problem. Leon had yet to try the sword, himself, but he doubted he'd be able to use it like Cloud did.

Leon often admired Cloud's way of fighting, but today he did so from a new perspective. The talk he'd had with Yuffie still haunted him after so many days. He couldn't get the girl's words out of his head.

"Cloud fought Sephiroth and killed him. Twice."

Yuffie had made it very clear that whoever this Sephiroth person was, he'd been incredibly strong. Yet Cloud had conquered him in the end, and taken his life. Twice.

That was something Leon couldn't understand. The story itself, however, had made him very aware of the fact that Cloud was capable of killing someone. He had the strength and the attitude – he wasn't to be taken lightly. Still, Leon sparred with him more often than not, and kept returning to the battlefield, only wanting more.

A strong blow forced Leon to take a step back, then another. He grit his teeth, his eyes meeting Cloud's own over the edge of his gunblade. The blond looked calm, and oh-so-confident. Perhaps Cloud truly was capable of killing someone, but for now, Leon was going to show him that he would never go down as easily as Sephiroth.

A violent thrust gave him enough space to swing his weapon, circling Cloud with short, quick moves. He aimed for Cloud's legs most of the time, simply because he enjoyed seeing the man hop around, trying to dodge him.

Cloud might've been strong, but that didn't mean Leon was weak.

It ended like most of their sparring sessions did. Eventually their weapons clashed with enough strength to send both fighters onto the ground. Too worn out to continue, Leon raised his hand in a sign of ending the battle. It was by no means a way of giving up – they simply had an understanding of not continuing when they got too exhausted.

Panting and gasping, both Leon and Cloud sat on the ground, trying to catch their breath. Leon was leaning his elbow heavily onto his knee, inhaling deeply to make his heart stop pounding like it would've been trying to break out of his chest.

"That-" The brunette stated, casually spitting into the sand to clean his mouth. "-almost had me worried for a second. You really are strong. Sometimes I think I'll end up like Sephiroth when you pick up your pace."

Leon didn't even realise what he'd said before he'd uttered the words. And still, he knew it had been intentional. The thought of Sephiroth had bothered him long enough – it was time to find out what it all was about.

Those words - they had strong influence on Cloud. For a moment blond warrior just stared his sparring partner, blue eyes wide, and then in those pools, there was a flash of mixed emotions. Leon could pick up shock, surprise, anger, hate and pain before that messy head was turned aside, golden bangs purposefully covering the eyes. "Who told you?"

Who wasn't the question Cloud was going for, even if he had used the exact word. What were you told, was the true meaning behind that tone - tone which was as blank of emotions as the man usually was. To Leon's surprise, other fighter didn't remain quiet. "What", it was no mistake - the brunette's ears didn't betray him - that voice trembled, just slightly. "What do you know?"

It was like a blow to his face. Cloud's entire posture changed – he turned away, his shoulders slumped, and he seemed to want to escape the whole situation. Leon, however, was determined on keeping the blonde there, for better or for worse. If that meant answering some of Cloud's questions, then so be it. Perhaps he'd get some answers in return.

Leon wasn't going to reveal his source of information. If Cloud told him nothing, he'd return to Yuffie. But if Cloud found out where he'd gotten these facts, Yuffie would definitely stop gossiping. Now that just wouldn't do.

"Nothing much." Came Leon's calm reply. His eyes were on Cloud, examining and questioning. He wasn't lying – he didn't know that much, after all. And even the things he knew were utterly confusing. "But I do know that he hurt you."

Now that he said it aloud, the words sounded possessive and caring. In Leon's mind, it had been a simple statement. To avoid questioning his own feelings about the whole situation, the brunette brought forth a question of his own.

"Who was he, Cloud?"

The blonde kept his gaze on ground, as if averting Leon's questioning eyes. Cloud's hand closed into a tight fist, nails digging deep inside to the skin. It was a small, insignificant movement, but the gunblader noticed it nonetheless. Maybe Cloud did too, maybe he didn't, but Leon did. "He's my darkness."

Seconds passed before neither of the men moved. It was a mild surprise to both that the blonde's mind and body moved faster than the other fighter's. "That's all you need to know."

With that, Cloud grabbed his huge sword from the ground and moved towards an exit. His movements weren't rapid, they weren't uncontrolled, quite the opposite. Even if he was fast, his entire body was still rigid. He wanted out; out of this ancient, disgusting building, away from Leon, and above all, away from this conversation.

But Leon wasn't satisfied with the answer he got. Sephiroth was Cloud's darkness? What was that even supposed to mean? Yes, Sephiroth did sound like an unpleasant person – like an evil man, to be completely honest – but to describe him as darkness merely seemed odd.

The brunette frowned slightly, and his frown only deepened when Cloud clearly wanted to end their discussion there. That didn't suit Leon.

His hand landed on Cloud's shoulder. The grip wasn't tight, but it was firm enough to tell the blond not to move. Leon had brought this up to get some answers, and he wasn't going to leave without them.

"He drove a sword right through you." The words were brutal, especially from the usually quiet fighter. He remembered Cloud's scars, however, and the way Cloud had avoided speaking of them. Sephiroth might've been Cloud's darkness, but Leon had a feeling he was more than that. "Who was he?"

Cloud didn't move. His other hand was still on tight grip, tight enough to draw blood. And he flinched as those words left Leon's mouth. The gunblader however didn't regret, as much as he disliked seeing the blond hurting. Younger warrior's next words were so quiet, almost inaudible. The way those words were pointed to the ground, the way they were spoken… Deep inside the gunblader knew this was as close as he'd ever hear Cloud begging. "Drop it. Just… drop it."

Those words, that attitude, they truly surprised Leon. This wasn't just some person Cloud had defeated in the past. It was easy to see that this was something bigger and far more important – something that had made Cloud into the person he was today. Because of that, Leon was ready to stand his ground in order to make the blond speak.

"I won't."

It was a simple statement, but Leon's voice rose to a level that made it impossible to ignore. A simple tug and he spun Cloud around, hoping that the man would face him and not turn away again. They might not have been in a relationship, but Leon considered Cloud something akin to a friend, and if anything, he wanted to know more of the fighter he spent his time with.

"What happened?" It was a far more simple question, but that much more important. The next words took their time to be uttered, but when Leon finally spoke, he did so with a demand in his tone. "What did he do to make you kill him?"

It was clear to Leon that Cloud let himself to be turned around - to be done something he didn't want to. But even if Cloud let him, the man still refused to talk. He didn't struggle, but he didn't meet his eyes either. "Stop."

Leon didn't take Cloud's words as a warning – he saw nothing but a man, hiding behind his demands and pleas of changing the subject. Well, Leon had other things in mind. He was going to make Cloud talk, because if this arrangement of theirs continued, then Leon wanted to know more about the blond, both the good and the bad.

"Why won't you just tell me?" Leon's frustration was starting to leak through. His hand moved from Cloud's shoulder and grasped the man's jaw, forcing that handsome face to tilt towards him. He wasn't going to give in. "It's not a complicated question, Strife. What happened?"

"Fine."

That, besides the angry flash of blue eyes, was the only warning Leon got before he felt himself thrown on the wall. Even if the building was old, despite it's age and looks it was made of something very durable - something that made air rush out of man's lungs as his back met the unforgiving wall.

As Leon coughed, getting himself to a sitting position at least, he took a look at Cloud. Younger man's posture was rigid, like it had been all the time, but now… it was even worse. It was like he was made out of stone - except he was shaking.

"You want to know what Sephiroth did to me?" Leon didn't answer, he had no need to. Not that he could've, he was too busy staring at the blonde's eyes, two deep blue whirlpools that were drowning him. He was drowning in a mixture of sorrow and pain. Never in his life had Leon seen a human possess such agony. "He burned my hometown, killing everyone there. He murdered the woman I deeply cared for. He tried to destroy the fucking world by bringing down a Meteor. And top of that…" on every phrase, Cloud took a step closer to Leon, until he was in front of him. Then he kneeled, continuing his confession. "…he messes with my head. Every now and then I can hear him, telling me how Aerith's and Zack's deaths were my fault; how I couldn't stop him from killing her; how I'm nothing but a failure; how my darkness calls his because we're same; how I'll forever be his puppet."

Cloud's eyes were cast on ground at the end of his speech. He couldn't bare watching someone as pure and strong as Leon while confessing what a failure he was. Leon, however, didn't know what to say or do. He had asked the whole truth, but right now, he wished he hadn't. He didn't want to hear anymore, didn't want to see the intense and pure pain this one person carried. But there was more to come.

"I know you've noticed my strength." A fist hit the wall next to Leon's head, nearly making a hole to the wall Leon's body barely scratched. Now that made the gunblader flinch. "You're right, it's inhuman." Those blue eyes still refused to meet the grey; Leon didn't dare to move an inch, he barely dared to breath. "It's due to mako injections I was given when I was a test subject in Hojo's lab." Cloud closed his eyes, letting out a shaky laughter. "Thanks to that, I got mako poisoning. That led to my… best friend's death because he didn't abandon me. He protected me and now he's dead."

Leon was speechless.

He had himself to blame, and no one else. He'd been under the impression of Sephiroth being an old enemy, someone Cloud had pissed off and then defeated in fair battle. Leon had thought that perhaps Cloud had done something he was ashamed of to end up in a battle with Sephiroth, that maybe being the reason why the blond didn't want to speak.

He'd expected a small revelation, a tiny secret.

Not this.

The brunette had to admit that he felt fear when Cloud approached him and nearly drove his fist through the wall next to his head. The blond was inhumanly strong – now even Cloud had said it out loud. Leon didn't know what mako was, but right now, he didn't want to ask. He'd already found out enough for one day, he had enough to think about for now.

Cloud's best friend was dead. A woman Cloud had cared for was dead. Cloud's home had been destroyed. These things alone were enough to break a man, but on top of it all, Sephiroth seemed to continue tormenting Cloud even now, lingering in his head even after his death.

Leon sat very still for a long while, his eyes on the fighter in front of him. Cloud was kneeling, his eyes cast onto the ground. The brunette didn't dare to tilt his head again, not when the dull throb in his back reminded him of where that had gotten him just a moment ago. Instead, Leon reached out, hesitating for a good while until his gloved fingertips brushed against Cloud's arm.

"You killed him." Leon breathed out, hoping that his words would do some good. "You won."

Leon couldn't have been any more wrong.

Cloud flinched under his touch - something that had never happen before - and let out a shaky laughter. "Won?"

Just a second ago, the brunette had wanted blond just to look him in the eye. Now he wanted to tear his own gaze away. Those beautiful blue eyes, they were utterly blank, if not for the pain still lingering in them - a sight that Leon had seen too many times.

It was a gaze of a defeated man. A gaze of adying man.

It probably hadn't felt so horrible if Cloud's would've been older, but he was even younger than Leon. And Leon knew he was far too young to be here, to have experienced all he had.

"I've killed him twice. He'll just come back again. Is that really winning?" With that, Cloud stood up and turning his back on the sitting gunblader, he picked his sword of the floor. That movement made Leon wonder where in this house his gunblade was; the weapons had been so easily forgotten as they had been distracted by a battle of a different kind.

On the door, Cloud stopped. "Leon." Warrior tone was flat, as if all emotions had been drained from it. Which, due to what had just happened, would be no surprise. "This is over. Don't seek me out again."

And then, he was gone.

Leon wanted to climb to his feet and catch up to Cloud, he wanted to grab the man's arm and make him stay. He wanted to apologise for even bringing Sephiroth up, and if anything, that was rare. Leon didn't apologise in vain and sometimes he didn't even apologise when he should've done so, but right now, it was all he wanted to do.

All of his thoughts, however, remained as such. He couldn't make himself rise from his sitting position, not when he'd witnessed Cloud's fury first-hand. He wanted to keep his life and his limbs, but Leon was awakened to a brand new realisation.

He wanted to keep Cloud.

The thought alone shocked Leon to the extent that he didn't have time to react before Cloud was out of the door. Alone, the brunette sighed deeply, finally letting his rigid posture relax. He felt drained of all energy, both physical and mental, everything replaced by concern, confusion and curiosity.

He knew more about Cloud know, whether he'd wanted it or not, but he had a feeling there was still more to discover. Was the mako poisoning the man had spoken of the reason behind the wing on Cloud's back? How long had it been since he'd killed Sephiroth? New questions had risen from the now answered ones, but Leon wasn't sure what to do with them, anymore.

He didn't even know what to do with Cloud.

Their agreement had been simple and easy – they'd challenged each other on the battlefield and healed one another in bed. Now the entire situation had turned complicated, all because of one question. Cloud had told him not to seek contact anymore and Leon had to admit that he wasn't sure whether or not to obey. Did he want to continue his partnership with Cloud?

Yes, that he was sure of. What he didn't know was whether he wanted the responsibility he now had, knowing so much about the blond fighter. If he accepted all of this and returned to Cloud against the man's demands, it would be like taking a step forward. Their simple partnership would end right there.

As night fell, Leon finally left the abandoned ruins, troubled by his thoughts. For the first time in years, the gunblader thought he might've found something he wasn't able to handle.

Or someone, to be precise.